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Film Reviews

Film Review: Argentina, 1985 (2022)

STORY

In 1985, prosecutors Julio César Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo fights a criminal case against the military dictators that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. When Strassera is unable to recruit lawyers to form his prosecution team, then Ocampo joins his cause and shockingly recruits a bunch of young law graduates and amateur lawyers to take on the most powerful people in the country.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Argentine military led by Jorge Rafael Videla seized political power during the 1976 coup against Isabel Perón. When the military established their government, they proceeded to launch their state terrorism campaign which is famously known as the ‘Dirty War‘ that lasted until 1983.

Under this campaign, around 9,000 to 30,000 civilians including the supporters of Perón were either killed or forcibly disappeared. Many of the victims were tortured and were put to extrajudicial murder.

For these intolerable crimes against humanity, the ‘Trial of the Juntas‘ happened two years after the military dictatorship collapsed in 1983 severely after losing the Falklands War against the British. This trial was a historical moment because, for the first time, a civil justice convicted a military dictatorship. And this trial is what the film ‘Argentina, 1985‘ is based on.

REVIEW

The film with all its seriousness finds a narrative way that is convincing for the audience. It is a well-directed film. In 140 screen minutes, the film covers the difficulties the prosecutor Strassera faced, the efforts of the young prosecution team in building a solid case against the criminals, the addresses of the victims that were painful, and many more.

Strassera is the central figure of the film where the writing acknowledges how stressful it was to take the case as well as look after the family. Ocampo, who worked with him in this trial, was also severely under-pressure. There is a sequence where Ocampo is scared of something bad occurring in the court. I liked that part of giving the audience a horror image of the prosecutors who are playing with fire and are unable to hold their temporary mental catastrophe.

The courtroom drama is absolutely not dramatic to the usual standards that we often watch. And due to this reason, the audience will get a real feel of the proceedings. The real heart of the film is in the middle that will boil the blood listening to the tortures the witnesses suffered when they testify in the cross-examination phase, particularly of Adriana Calvo.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY

As far as accuracy is concerned, the film has used real footage to level the dramatization. A few aspects of the writing are true but some of the scenes looked to be exaggerated like the prosecutor and Viola making insulting gestures, judges at the restaurant, Judith mocking the lawyer, and the interviews of the young graduates, etc.

Strassera’s closing argument is around nine minutes of screen time which indicates how significant this address was for justice and the people of Argentina. The audience may feel that the closing argument had no intensity and Strassera just read the argument. But this is exactly how Strassera, in real, addressed the court. The spectators getting jubilant and emotional with a standing ovation is all in the footage.

THE TITLE

The makers surely had plenty of options to entitle the film. The most fitting could have been ‘Juicio a las Juntas’ (Trial of the Juntas) but they chose ‘Argentina, 1985’. That leads to a few theories that make this title a more fitting title than ‘Juicio a las Juntas’. The most compelling theory is that this year was a defining moment in the country’s history that learned from the political mess and shaped the country for better economic and social growth.

CLOSING REMARKS

I am not sure how often an Argentine or Spanish film has dramatized this event before. But I feel that this was the need of the hour. The fall of the military dictatorship is considered the re-independence of the country.

This historical drama successfully highlights how the judicial system of a country sets an example for others and brings dangerous people to justice. I wanted to watch a short dramatization of military violence to initiate this film. Looks incomplete without it. But in all sorts, ‘Argentina, 1985’ has set the bar high for courtroom dramas. And addressed their national crisis with justice.

Nunca más!

RATING: 8.3/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Emily (2022)

STORY

Nearing her death and after the publication of her novel, Emily Brontë remembers her troubled past when she and her brother Branwell spent their time playing, drinking, and scaring people out. During all this, a handsome curate William Weightman becomes a frequent visitor to the Brontës. And he and Emily, out of nowhere, develops a romantic affair.

THE BRONTËS

British literature history will never forget that one of the houses in Yorkshire produced not one, not two but three writers who at such young ages wrote one of the most beloved novels. They were three sisters; Charlotte, Emily, and Anne. Charlotte wrote ‘Jane Eyre‘. Emily’s only published novel was ‘Wuthering Heights‘. And Anne, the youngest of them, wrote only two novels in her lifetime, ‘Agnes Grey‘ and ‘The Tenant of Wildfell Hall‘.

This tendency of minimal but significant writing makes us believe that blessed literary prodigies came into existence who left this world at such young ages. They would certainly have done wonders had they all lived longer.

REVIEW

The film dramatizes all the family members and centralizes on Emily by reimagining her life with creative liberties. Unsure if the writing of Emily’s character in the film is accurate. But I get the motive that the filmmakers wanted the audience to understand why Emily chose to be sadistic as compared to the other sisters.

The dramatization of the old British era has always been on point. So the technicalities were not the primary concern for me. My keenness towards the film was to observe if Emily Brontë is characterized by the personal rank that justifies her significance to the birth of ‘Wuthering Heights’. Therefore, I couldn’t settle myself into that presentation.

EMILY AS EMILY

Something looked off in the writing. And that persistently is Emily’s portrayal of herself. Because she was an introvert, a timid and reserved woman who sometimes was unable to speak in public. She was a daydreamer who is understood to have created her own fictional universe. She was considered ‘The Strange One’. But the hows and whys of being ‘The Strange One’ were not fully understood.

And due to the reason Emily is so unknown to us, the filmmakers gave their vision and took liberty about her life and tried to reason it. But a fictional reimagination will come to debate when you alter the timeline or historical accuracies.

HISTORICAL INACCURACIES

For example, the film shows that ‘Wuthering Heights’ is published under her name whereas it was published under her name after her death. The Brontë sisters used male pseudonyms for publishing novels because the author being a woman was quite unthinkable and there was a fear of rejection that would hurt the publishing company’s business. Thank Lord, how much the world has progressed from there.

Charlotte’s ‘Jane Eyre’ doesn’t revolve around the film and is depicted in a way that she got that inspiration after Branwell and Emily died. Whereas ‘Jane Eyre’ happened before ‘Wuthering Heights’. If this is all intentional, for me, it makes no sense. The power of writing compromises for lacking critical factualities.

Affair with Weightman?

The biggest mess is Emily shown to be in love with William Weightman. There is no trace or fact-finding if Emily ever fell in love. And then I also question, how come she wrote ‘Wuthering Heights’? The principal curator of Brontë Parsonage Museum, Ann Dinsdale, has told The Telegraph that there is no evidence that Emily had a love affair with anyone. William Weightman is rumored to have an affair with the youngest sister, Anne.

So the director tried to squeeze the younghood of feminine liberty and didn’t only make Emily kiss William Weightman but commit multiple intercourses. Unsure of how far you can go with the character. Not being a conservative here but I believe Emily would have been written much better.

THE BIGGEST PLUS

Yes, I must praise Emma Mackay‘s selection for the titular role. She really fitted in that character and gave us a thorough look at the suffering and desperation. The devastation that she throws on William is what I am talking about.

CLOSING REMARKS

‘Emily’ is an assumption galvanizing a possibility of vibrance in Emily Brontë’s supposedly love life. But the attempt of justifying the What-Ifs is ridiculed by passive writing.

RATING: 6/10

 

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